Putting is an essential skill for golfer's, both recreational and professional. A number of strokes can be subtracted from a player's score if the player is able to consistently control their putting stroke.
It is known to train an athlete to perform a skill, such as a golfer's putting stroke, by building the “muscle memory” as a result of repetitively performing the skill in a correct or desired manner. In order to ensure that this repetitive training is effective, apparatus have been developed to assist in maintaining a proper stroke.
A number of prior art devices are known to assist a golfer to develop a consistent putting stroke. Many of these devices are merely visual aids to assist in alignment of the putter head with the ball and do not force the stroke to follow a pattern throughout the backswing and the follow through.
A number of known devices provide a track in which the golfer can stroke the putter head, the putter being either fixed to the track in some fashion or free within the track. One such prior art device is that taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,542 to Walk which provides a putting track and two L-shaped attachment deflection members having two adjustable guide pointers removably attached to a conventional putter. The attachment members and the track provide a visual indicator of alignment rather than forcing the putter head to remain in alignment. Further, golfer's wrists are not caused to remain stable throughout the stroke and therefore to follow a consistent pattern throughout the stroke, techniques many believe to be elements of a consistent putting stroke.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,155 to Donaldson teaches a track and a carriage means used to clamp the putter head within the track.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,796 to King teaches a track and a specially designed rectangular putter head, which is adjustably connected to a shaft and freely moveable within the track, to approximate the adjustment of the head and shaft to that of the golfer's putter. The rectangular shape of the head is particular to provide contact between the track and the head, should the swing not follow the track. The point of contact of the head with the track is relatively small and Applicant believes that the head has an increased tendency to bind within the track and to stop an incorrect stroke rather than forcing the stroke to match the track on a consistent basis.
Clearly there is a need for a simple device that permits a golfer to use the putter that they will use on the golf course, that can be used without the need to affix the putter to the device and that will force the golfer to stroke the ball, according to a predetermined optimal stroke, in both the backswing and follow-through portions of the stroke.